BP: Line 3 protesters block Clearwater County roadwork

CLEARWATER COUNTY -- Roadwork that crosses the early stages of the Mississippi River was halted briefly on Tuesday morning by protesters who object to a plan to install an oil pipeline nearby and a similar plan in Louisiana, where the river drains into the Gulf of Mexico.

About 15 people set up a tipi and performed a water ceremony where the Mississippi meets County Road 40, pausing a mill and overlay project across the bridge there. The protesters were about 100 yards away from the spot where the county road intersects with the proposed route for Enbridge Energy Co.’s replacement Line 3 oil pipeline, which would pump 760,000 barrels of oil daily through northern Minnesota and has prompted fears of a spill or similar disaster.